A Journey Through the Ages
by GertieTheHippo
Summary: Ellie had always considered herself pretty lucky with her average as Hell life. Now, for the first time she's realizing how much life has to offer her and, more importantly, what she has to offer life. All it took was a fall through space and time to join the quest of thirteen dwarves, one hobbit, and one wizard who keeps disappearing to God knows where. -I hope you enjoy-
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey all! This is my first story for The Hobbit. I do have one finished story for X-men as well as one story in progress for Walking Dead. I really hope you like this one, and would love to see some reviews to know what people like, what I could improve on, and what people would like to see. I hope you all enjoy!

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Falling was not something I was unaccustomed to. When your number one reaction to problems in life is to find a tree to disappear in, you get used to the occasional slip and tumble. I think my mother had hoped my breaking my arm in three places when I was twelve would have been a wakeup call. Well that was a big negative. I was climbing the same tree two days later, cast and all.

My point here is that I know what to expect when I fall. There is the initial shock that something has gone terribly wrong. Then comes the desperate attempt to correct that wrong. When the attempt fails, as it always does, there's the whooshing of air past your face. This is the point when you realize what's going to happen, where you're about to end up, and how much it's going to hurt. It really is quite a long process despite only taking a few seconds.

But the fall to which I am currently referring was different. I remember my foot slipping a branch, and I remember scrambling to grab hold of something. I remember the whoosh, bracing myself for impact, and cursing my mother for being right. But that's where I blacked out. I had never been knocked out before. Not when I fell from my first tree when I was five, not when my ex best friend pushed me from our tree castle when I was fourteen, and not even when I was eighteen and fell from a twenty foot sequoia. Although, I did break my left knee…which sucked…a lot.

But clearly, my run of consciousness was at an end. And what an abrupt end it was…

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When I came to, I wasn't ready to open my eyes. My head was pounding, and the little light making its way past my eyelids was not helping. I started to shift, but froze at the shooting pain in my right shoulder. Dislocation…not too bad then if that was the worst of my injuries, though it would be a bitch to fix. I turned my head slightly, and just as I was prepared to open my eyes, I heard whispers not too far from me. I laid still, wondering who these unfamiliar voices belonged to. They were very gruff, very masculine, and very terrifying. I was in my backyard after all.

"Should we save some for her?" a timid voice asked. I head a brief clattering of plates and silverware with cheerful laughter mixed within.

"She might be hungry when she wakes." The second voice was louder than the first, and I couldn't help but shiver.

"If she does, Master Baggins, it won't be for lunch," a third, much rougher voice replied to more laughter. I froze. What the Hell was that supposed to mean? The way he spoke was not at all comforting.

"Come on Gloin, you think you've got something special, do you?" yet another voice joked. I was growing more uncomfortable with every passing second. Who were these men, and why were they talking about me like I wasn't even there?

"All of you, shut up and eat. She's not our problem and she won't become our problem." This voice seemed to come from whoever was in charge. I would have been a moron to miss the clear cut authority in his voice, and I briefly wondered what would happen should someone argue with him. My thoughts, however, were quick to shift back toward one of the earlier speakers when his rumbly voice filled my ears once more.

"But Thorin, you know how long these journeys can be…she could provide some real comfort," the earlier voice continued. "Or at the very least, a bit of a distraction."

I could feel the vomit rise in my throat. Clearly, I was in the company of a clan of psycho serial rapists who would torture and murder me. Before another word was said, I felt a sudden coldness and heard a deep, worn voice reach over the crowd.

"I will not hear another word of this," the voice called sternly. "All of you…this girl is injured and will not be left to fend for herself. And most assuredly, she will not be treated as you are discussing." I felt a small burst of hope in the pit of my stomach, before it was quenched when I realized what he had said. Fend for herself? Was I not in my backyard anymore, and if not, where was I? My psycho serial rapists were also, apparently, kidnappers.

The one I was certain was called Thorin spoke again. It was hard to tell if he was pissed off at my hero for speaking up or if he was just pissed off in general. Either way, I was getting the distinct impression this angry sounding Thorin character was not going to be my friend. "Gandalf, I will not have my company tainted with the likes of her. She'll be fine; whores have a way of bouncing back."

Whore. He was calling me a whore. What in God's name gave him the right to make such a rude and terrible assumption? It took all my will power to keep my eyes shut tight. After all, in most movies, the bad guys wait for their victims to be awake before they starting fucking them up. The longer I stayed "asleep," the longer I stayed safe...hopefully

"There is no basis for that," a soft elderly voice said. I heard more laughter roaring.

"Look at her Balin!"

"No self-respecting lady would dress thusly."

"I'll find out if there's basis!"

I could feel tears attempt to push themselves through my tightly squeezed eyes.

"Stop it," said the first voice I had heard. "She is a lady and you will not talk about her like that in front of me!" The silence was penetrating. Clearly the voice did not belong to someone with much power over the group.

"Well said, my friend…and with that," the one called Gandalf continued. I could feel him walking toward me. "Perhaps she's ready to open her eyes, considering she's been awake for the past several minutes." My eyes shot open as a group of incredibly rough looking men made to surround me. I stood, careful not to upset my arm too much. My eyes swept across what appeared to be an unfriendly group of fourteen rather short, yet terrifying men dressed in clothing I hadn't seen outside of the Renaissance Festival. A very old looking man in all grey stood on the outskirts of the group and eyed me curiously.

"Dear girl," he started softly, making his way through the group of men. I could feel myself shaking as my eyes darted around the group.

"Finally, some answers," one man with a long white beard sighed.

"Pretty answers, I hope." One of the taller men of the group, which didn't say much since I was stiller taller, eyed me with interest, his gaze resting on my long legs. I turned away from his gaze and tried to ignore the many menacing tattoos covering his bald head.

I felt several of the men approach and attempt to close ranks on me, so I did the only thing I could think of. I let loose the most bloodcurdling, fear filled scream I could and reached over to punch the closest man to me. I turned and sprinted toward the only tree in sight and pulled myself up with my one good arm, praying if I got high enough, the group would give up and leave me alone.

By the time I reached the top of the twenty foot tree, the confusion below was apparent. I leaned heavily against the main trunk as I laid my legs out along a branch. Trying to catch my breath, I listened to the talk far below me. My deep breathing only seemed to further upset my arm, and I felt more tears trying to push their way to the surface. As the mutterings on the ground continued, I took the opportunity to look around. I seemed to be in the only sturdy tree in several miles. Grassy fields with the occasional shrub surrounded me on every side, and I shook my head.

"What is going on?" I whispered to myself, pushing my hair from my face with my one good arm. The wind was biting, and I caught myself wishing for my under armor and the Columbia I usually only pulled out for the very worst of blizzards. It wasn't that cold of course, but at least I could hide within the coat from whatever was waiting for me on the ground. I pulled my knees to my chest, wobbled precariously, and finally settled onto my branch.

"Miss!" I looked up and then turned my gaze downward. "Miss! Won't you come down?" the voice called again. I very nearly laughed. Were they kidding? Not only had they kidnapped me, but had been talking about raping me. Screw that.

"Miss, you'll fall!" another voice shouted. It was amazing how believable they sounded, but I would have had to be an idiot to trust any of them. They could show all the "concern" in the world, but I refused to leave my perch. At least not until they left before me.

"Miss!" I rolled my eyes, broke off a good sized branch to my left and hurled it down at the group.

"Go away!" I screamed. Silence.

"So you can speak then?" called up an older sounding voice.

"I said go away!" I wondered what I had done to deserve this.

"Let us help you!"

"I want to go home," I moaned, knowing they couldn't hear me. I leaned back and cringed as my shoulder let loose another spasm of pain. Deciding, I could probably fix at least that one situation on my own I stood up and painfully raised my arm to grab hold of the branch above me. I had fixed several of my own dislocations in the past, but never at the top of a large tree while surrounded by a bunch of kidnapping psycho serial rapists.

"Don't jump!" came a voice from below. I looked down briefly to see what appeared to be a child running toward the base of the tree.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello readers! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know what you think via reviews/faves/follows. Thanks for reading :)**

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"What the fuck are you doing?" I cried, still standing and ready to pop my arm back properly. From where I was, he looked maybe twelve…what was this kid doing with my psycho serial rapists? Focusing back on my arm, I gripped the branch above me as tightly as I could and wrenched my arm down and to the left. I heard the pop and let out a yelp. I slunk back down into a sitting position and rotated my shoulder, loosening it up to avoid lasting damage.

"Please don't push me out of the tree," the kid climbing the tree pleaded as he reached the branch below mine. My eyes widened at the man before me, for the kid I thought I saw climbing the tree wasn't a kid at all. While he was small, barely reaching my chest in fact, he was perfectly proportioned for an adult.

I remained silent as I took in the person who was finally able to climb up and sit across from me. He had thick curly hair on top of his head that matched the thick curly hair on his feet. And his feet were large…at least three times the size of normal feet. He wore no shoes, but wore a green jacket covering a lovely yellow vest over a white shirt. He hardly seemed like someone to belong to the group waiting and muttering down on the ground. I glanced down and noticed several of the men had wandered back toward their campfire to continue eating and drinking, while only a few remained waiting at the bottom of the tree.

I turned my gaze back to my new companion and narrowed my eyes. "Who are you?" I asked coldly, trying to keep the fear from my voice.

The small man gave me a small smile. "I am Bilbo Baggins at your service, Miss. May I ask your name as well?" he asked, obviously holding back the urge to take my hand in his.

I merely continued staring silently, wondering what this little interlude was leading toward.

"Well, I just want to assure you that everyone just wants to make sure you're all right," he explained gently, as if loud noises or sudden movements might trigger an episode of hysteria. He gave me another supportive smile. "When Ori spotted you and we found you unconscious, I thought for certain you –"

"What do you mean found me?" I asked confused. There was no way they found me here in the middle of nowhere. "I was at home in my yard…at home," I explained quickly knowing I most likely sounded like a crazy person.

"Oh – no, you were definitely here," he replied nervously. "Where is home? I'm sure we could return you."

"No…you're lying. You brought me here…" I could feel my brain trying to figure out what exactly was going on. It was failing miserably. My breath started to hitch once more in my throat and I felt the panic rise up in my chest. Before I knew it my vision was tunneling and I was straining to hear the man-child beside me.

"Oh dear…Miss, please try to calm down. If you fall now, I'm afraid we'll both go down." I tried to steady myself, but my breathing continued on in the same erratic fashion. "Miss, if you could just breathe with me. Come on now."

I flinched as he grabbed my hand and put it to his own chest. "Just like this, Miss. Do you feel it?" With a nod, I closed my eyes and tried to match my breathing to his own. After a few moments, I felt my body begin to relax, and I pulled away my hand.

"I'm okay," I muttered. He seemed reluctant to release my hand, but he finally let go. We sat in silence for a few minutes as I continued to recover from my panic attack. I glanced back toward the man beside me who offered up an awkward grin and a pat on my knee.

"Honest Miss. We – my company and I – have been on the road for over a week now. We only discovered you an hour or so ago. Gandalf refused to leave you behind, and rightly so of course, but we weren't sure what to do with you while you slept, so it was decided we would wait and make sure you were unhurt." He looked at me, desperate that I believe what he was telling me. And against all my better judgment, I was beginning to.

I sighed. "If you all really did stop to help me like the gentlemen you claim to be, why were you talking about me like I'm some kind of slut?" I asked, clenching my jaw.

"Pardon?" he asked. I raised my eyebrows.

"You called me a whore," I replied coldly.

"No no no no," he explained hurriedly. "I did nothing of the sort. That was some of the others…and really they meant no harm. It's just you-" I was amazed at how quickly he cut himself off. I noticed his blush and shook my head angrily.

"I just what?" I asked pointedly. There was no way in Hell he was going to blame their behavior on me. I was fucking unconscious for Christ's sake. He mumbled something inaudibly and stared determinedly at his feet. "What was your name? Bilbo?" He nodded. "Okay well Bilbo, what about me?" I'm not sure if it was the fact I used his name or the force in my voice that made him answer me, but answer me he did.

"Well, Miss you hardly…uh…have the proper…mmm…attire for a lady out on her own. Well any lady really." I gave him a blank stare and crossed my arms.

"Excuse me?" I asked. Was he really using the "if she didn't want it, she wouldn't dress like that" argument?

"I mean no offense, Miss, truly…" he explained rapidly. At least he had the decency to look ashamed. We sat in silence for a few moments as I tried to come up with a response that didn't include a massive account on the struggles and advancement of women in modern society. During this brief rest, we looked down as a voice shouted up to us.

"Mr. Baggins are you coming down or should we not plan on you two for supper?" Bilbo rolled his eyes and asked if I wanted to go down. I looked at him like he was insane and he sighed.

"Give us a minute will you?" he shouted back. "Don't let Bombur eat everything!" he added hastily.

"What's a Bombur?" I asked, surprising myself.

"Ahhh well he is the dwarf farthest on your right…the rather large fellow," Bilbo replied, pointing at the roundest man I had ever seen in my life. Just as I was about to ask about the old man dressed like a man-witch, I froze at what I was just told.

"Dwarf?" I asked disbelievingly.

"You know…a dwarf," he laughed. "Big beards, love gold and a good fight…?" I stared at him blankly. "Surely you've heard of dwarves?"

I shook my head and asked, "Are you a dwarf?" Wrong question apparently.

"I should say not! I, Miss, am Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of the Shire," he explained firmly, obviously proud of his heritage. "Not that dwarves are bad, of course," Bilbo added hastily, looking at the company below us.

"And that man with the pointy hat? He's a person right?" For the life of me, I didn't know why I bothered asking. Clearly Bilbo wasn't giving me real answers, the little shit. Dwarves, at least dwarves like these, they just weren't real. And what the Hell was a hobbit?

"Yes…well sort of, I think. Maybe not really." Bilbo seemed to be more confused than I was. "Well he's a wizard anyway. Gandalf the Grey is his name." So not a man-witch, I thought. A wizard. I guess he looked a little like Dumbledore…

Shaking my head, I shot Bilbo a pointed glare. "See you're just making things up now."

He gave his head a violent shake and looked at me with big eyes. "Miss I swear to you, it's true. Trust me, I understand. If someone had told me a fortnight ago I would be marching across the every land from here to God knows where with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, I would have said they were crazy. But I'm not crazy. I'm here, they're there, and here you are with me. Plain as day.

"And while they are crude and have no small aversion to basic hygiene, on my mother's grave and upon my honor, I promise no one down there wants to harm you. I would not stand for it." I could only stare in silence as I took in all Bilbo had said. It was hard to be suspicious of the little guy, though I sure did try. Even though it was all a bit dramatic with the swearing and the honor and what not (because really, who spoke like that,) I wanted very badly to believe his words.

"Miss, are you ready to tell me your name yet?" Bilbo asked hopefully, interrupting the brief silence between us.

I bit my lip, trying to think of a reason not to give up my name. I gave Bilbo another look, and for some reason it became impossible for me to think anything but good could come from someone with such warm, sympathetic eyes.

"I'm Ripley." I held out my hand to him, but the look on his face made me pull back.

"Ripley…that's an interesting name," he remarked, slowly nodding his head. Releasing a sigh, I licked my lips. I knew what it meant back home if someone said something was "interesting," and had the distinct feeling the word had a similar meaning here.

"Yeah, my dad…I don't know." I raised an eyebrow and held out my hand again. "Some people call me Ellie," I offered.

"Right," Bilbo replied shaking my hand. "Well Miss Ellie, have I convinced you to come down from this rather high up tree?"

I looked down and shook my head. "Bilbo?"

"Yes Miss Ellie?" If the situation wasn't so terrifying, I may have laughed at him calling me Miss.

"I just – well this isn't home. It's not right. I don't know where this is." I motioned to the grasslands around us. "You _say_ you found me here, but where is here exactly?"

The sympathy on Bilbo's face was plain as day. It was clear he wanted to give me an answer that would please me, but he didn't look hopeful he could.

"Well we've been heading east from Bree for ten day days now, though it feels like one hundred. It's hard to say how many miles we've gone, but – Miss Ellie?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I just – I don't know what that means. Bree?" Was that supposed to be a town? If it was, it was nowhere near home.

"Yes Miss," Bilbo replied softly. "Is that not a familiar name?"

I shook my head and closed my eyes. "Ummm, okay and the year?" I knew I must have sounded insane. I felt insane, or at least like I was going insane.

It's the year 2941," he replied. "Of the Third Age."

I ran my hand through my messed hair and brushed the stray strands from my face. It wasn't possible. Different place? Different year? Hell, it was a completely different measurement of time. I knew what it looked like, and I think, deep down, I knew it to be true. But seriously, people don't just travel to whole other worlds or whole other times. Doctor Who and Supernatural were just TV shows, not real life. What the Hell…

"Miss Ellie?" I looked back at Bilbo and could see the concern reflected in his eyes.

"Yes," I finally answered after releasing a heavy sigh. "Okay, right. You said that old guy's a wizard?" Bilbo nodded. "Right, I guess he's the one I need to talk to.

Bilbo grinned. "So you're ready to go down then?"

I released a snort. "Ready? The way I see it, there are three possibilities here. A. I have completely lost my mind and should be put away. B. This is all a super elaborate ploy to get me to trust your creepy ass cult of psycho serial rapists before you torture and/or murder me. Or C. I have literally fallen through space and time into some unknown world where dwarves, wizards, and hobbits are totally normal and not disconcerting in the least.

"Now apart from a history of Postpartum Depression in my family and one very distant cousin who believes he's Santa Claus, there's nothing to suggest I've suddenly cracked. So that's out. And while I'm still unsure of some of those assholes down there, for some reason I'm trusting you. That means of all my options, I'm looking at some sort of Bill and Ted event going on here, and if that guy can do magic, maybe he can send me back sans telephone booth."

I shot Bilbo an expectant look.

"I'm I afraid I don't understand what any of that means," he finally replied, clearly trying to make sense out of my longwinded speech.

"Yeah, well…welcome to the Hell in which I currently reside."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello readers! Thank you for the follows and things! Just a quick note of some of my thoughts here. I've read loads of good stories for various fandoms, many of them with OCs. I do love a well written OC. I've found in a number of stories, though, where OCs dropped into whatever world the author is using and they always seem to adapt remarkably well. I'm trying to portray this OC as being a bit more hesitant and disbelieving to the whole situation at hand.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

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By the time both Bilbo and I made it back to the lowest branch, neither of us were in great shape. At his height, I wondered how he had gotten up in the tree to begin with.

"Adrenaline, perhaps?" he offered. I shrugged.

"I guess." Taking a deep breath, I rolled backward and made sure my knees stayed locked around the branch. From my reasonably steady upside down position, I reached up to grab the branch and finally dropped down to the ground. I heard some twigs break beneath my feet, but felt no lasting damage.

"You're up, Starshine," I called, turning my eyes back to Bilbo. He didn't look nearly as confident as he had earlier.

"Right, yes…I'll just follow you, I suppose?"

I guess if I had any real sense of self preservation, I would have left him up in the tree and taken off running. But this was me, so no such luck on that front.

"Just jump down," I ordered, briefly wondering which would hurt more: Bilbo's body colliding with mine or my body colliding with the ground.

"Are you sure, Miss Ellie?" he asked while positioning himself. I glanced over my shoulder to where his group had settled fifty or so feet away and I nodded.

"Yeah, come on." I bent my knees and braced myself. I have to say, for someone less than four feet tall, he was one sturdy little shit. I pushed him off of me as I tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of me when Bilbo had barreled into me.

"Oh my lord, Miss Ellie, are you all right?"

I groaned and pushed myself up. "Yup, all good." I gave my backside a rub and nearly laughed at the shade of red on Bilbo's cheeks.

"Are you quite certain; we can sit if you'd like."

"Ow," I mumbled. Glancing over to Bilbo, however, I made sure to try and give him as much a smile as I could manage. Despite everything, I must have pulled off something marginally acceptable considering Bilbo was offering up a small smile of his own. "I'm fine; let's just go, before I decide you're lying to me, yeah?"

"Lying to – but Miss Ellie, I swear to you –"

"I know, I know…on your honor, I heard you," I replied, once more brushing my hair from my eyes. Honestly, of all the days in my life not to have a single ponytail on my wrist…story of my life.

"Would it make you feel better to take my arm?" I glanced down at Bilbo and couldn't suppress the ridiculous grin on my face. He must have been at least two feet shorter than I was, and God knew we were both going to have to stretch uncomfortably to make it work, but he didn't seem to mind. It was strange and oddly comforting to have Bilbo being so considerate toward both me and my situation. Neither of us fully understood that situation of course, but still…he knew there was one.

I held out my hand and bit my lip. "Maybe if you held my hand?" I probably sounded like a complete baby, but Bilbo was quick to deny any ridiculousness on my part. Giving my hand a gentle squeeze, Bilbo started leading me toward the rest of his group.

The closer we got, the plainer it became that this group (as long as Bilbo was telling the truth and they weren't psycho serial rapists) knew how to have a good time. Between the laughing, loud conversations, and what I imagined to be some halfway decent booze, it was like seeing my own friends back home. That is if my friends were all dwarves with questionable hygiene practices and big ass weapons laying around.

I tensed as Bilbo pulled me closer to the circle surrounding the fire. I was grateful to see that we were mostly being ignored. Apart from one pretty pissed off dwarf who I assumed was Thorin and the man with the pointy hat – the wizard, I suppose – no one else was paying much attention. They seemed far more interested in each other's stories.

"Excuse me everyone," Bilbo stated. I only had to wonder for a moment whether or not I was the only one who thought he was incredibly soft-spoken, since no one even looked up.

"I said excuse me everyone." Nothing. Bilbo gave a discomfited shrug and cleared his throat loudly.

"Oi! I said excuse me everyone!" At that, all eyes were on us. And God, was that uncomfortable.

"Ah, very good then. I – err – would like you to meet Miss Ellie." Bilbo pushed me forward slightly so I could better see everyone in the bright firelight. No one stood to greet me, and I briefly wondered what they had been saying about me during my time in the tree. Bilbo must have sensed my discomfort, for he continued on.

"And I would like for you all to try very hard not to upset Miss Ellie any more than you already have…difficult as that may be."

I closed my eyes ay his words and sighed. Taking a deep breath, I hold up one hand to give some sort of a wave.

"Hello," I said, forcing myself to look everyone in the eyes rather than at my feet. "I'm Ellie…though I guess he just said that." I locked onto one of the group in particular and cringed. "I'm sorry for hitting you in the face," I apologized. I had almost forgotten I had punched anyone, but there he sat with a wet cloth held to his eye.

There was awkward silence for several seconds until, suddenly with quite shocking speed, he was in front of me and bowing deeply, facial injury forgotten.

"Bofur at your service, Milady, and let me say, you've got quite the arm on you! Anyone lookin' for trouble with you will find it indeed when you belt'em here to high noon!" The rest of the group roared with laughter and were on their feet just as quickly as Bofur.

I had no time to re latch myself to Bilbo before Bofur, who apparently decided to take over as my keeper, started guiding me around the fire.

"Milady Miss Ellie, I would like to introduce you to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain." And then, with every new name came a bow, and with every bow came a peck on my hand. If I hadn't been so blown away by all the names I was trying to remember, I may have been flattered by the attention. Unfortunately, there were, in fact, a fair few names. And boy did they all sound similar.

Balin and Dwalin came first and, while looking nothing alike, were apparently brothers. Balin actually reminded me a bit of my grandfather with his crazy white beard and his kind eyes. I also recognized his voice as one which had called for _not_ treating me like a whore, so yay Balin. Dwalin, on the other hand was big with over a dozen visible scars and even more tattoos. He was also one I recognized from earlier, but as more of a lech than his brother.

Oin and Gloin were next and were also brothers. Oin looked to be pretty old and didn't say much other than to tell me to speak up. I wondered how deaf he actually was what with his odd silver hearing trumpet which seemed to be perpetually held to his right ear. And Gloin…oh Gloin, what a charmer. He was another, like Dwalin, to make certain assumptions and comments about my character. Even there at our introduction, he continued to eye me until his brother clubbed him on the head with his trumpet.

The third set was a group of three brothers: Dori, Nori, and Ori. I was beginning to sense a bit of a theme. Dori seemed even more polite and proper than Bilbo had, which said a lot. From what little I could tell, he was the oldest of his brothers as well as the one who tried to keep everyone else somewhat corralled. It was a bit like watching me trying to watch out for my roommates during a night on the town. Nori was pretty quiet, though incredibly smiley. I wasn't entirely sure what he found so wonderful, but good on him for being so bright around such a large and mildly irksome group. Ori was clearly the youngest. He was almost adorable in a way with his big eyes and the way he kept meeting my gaze, blushing furiously, and bowing over and over.

The next two happened to be brothers with Bofur, the dwarf making all these introductions for me. Though I would not have been able to tell, had he not told me straight away. Bombur, as Bilbo had told me earlier, was indeed the largest of the group, and much like Nori…Nori? Yes, Nori. Much like Nori, he was pretty content with staying quiet. Though instead of smiling, he preferred to keep stuffing food into his mouth which was always appealing. The third brother, Bifur, on the other hand, would hardly shut up. It wouldn't have been so annoying had I been able to understand a single word coming out of his mouth. I wasn't sure, but it may have had something to do with the ax sticking out of his head.

I could only shake my head in confusion as he jabbered on, pointing at me and Bofur and laughing all the while. Suddenly it occurred to me. He was trying to joke about my hitting his brother. Once more, I turned to Bofur and grimaced.

"Shit, God, I'm really sorry about that," I emphasized. "It was just sort of instinct, you know? Fight or flight…" Bofur only laughed and pushed any ill will out of my head.

"Lassie, never apologize for defendin' yourself," he ordered as the others joined in his laughter. I couldn't help but quirk out a smile at the nonchalant attitudes circling the camp. Looking around the group and doing the math in my head, I realized that apart from Thorin, who seemed to have wandered off on his own, there should still have been another two dwarves hanging around somewhere.

Before I had the chance to ask Bofur, who was quickly becoming my favorite aside from Bilbo, two bodies appeared before me with huge grins upon their faces. I had no time to react to their sudden presence before they were leading me by each arm to a place nearer the fire. I glanced back over my shoulder to the others chuckling at the two dwarves at my sides and doing nothing to explain what was happening.

As they sat me down onto a blanket laying on the ground, they each grinned widely, first at each other and then at me.

"Fili!"

"And Kili!"

"At you service Milady!" they shouted together before plopping down, once again, on either side of me. I could only stare awkwardly between the two as Fili handed me a bowl with some kind of food within and Kili placed another blanket over my shoulders. I had to admit, it worked well in cutting down the slight chill brought on by the cool night air.

"Hello," I finally replied while shifting the bowl awkwardly from hand to hand. I was still unsure about what to make of the two rambunctious brothers. Well, I assumed they were brothers. If their names were anything to go by, they had to be.

The one called Fili looked at least a little older than the other. He had thick gold hair tied into several super sweet braids. I briefly wondered if he was able to do that himself or if someone had to help him. After all, I could barely manage a ponytail let alone a half way decent fishtail…He was another who looked like he would be easy to talk to what with his bright eyes and deep laugh. Kili, on the other hand, looked nothing like his brother. His hair was dark and he relied only on a two thin braids to hold hit back. His eyes were darker just as his hair was and I was painfully aware of how closely his gaze followed my movements.

"Ah! She speaks lads and her voice is as lovely as she is," Fili called out as I spoke and the group settled back into their places.

"What was your name again lassie?" Balin asked as he handed me a spoon to go with my bowl. I eagerly dug into the stew, not realizing how hungry I had been. I swallowed the bite and glanced back up toward Balin and the group.

"Ellie," I replied taking another bite. It definitely was not something one would find on the Food Network, but I guess I wasn't really in the company of people who would be fans of any of those shows…even if they had the capabilities to see them.

"For Eleanor perhaps?" Dori asked politely.

I shook my head. "For Ripley. But no one really calls me Ripley except for my roommates, and generally only when they're drunk or being total assholes." I released a small smile as the group once more erupted into laughter. Okay, so these guys weren't as scary as I had initially thought…

"Such language from such a lovely face isn't right," Balin tutted. He couldn't havee too offended, however, considering the twinkle in his eyes.

"Well, I guess I'm not much of a lady?" I replied with a shrug. I had never really been considered much of a girly girl back home, especially when hanging out with the guys. Wondering what they were doing made me pause in the middle of my eating. Kili handed me a small (semi-clean) cloth I assumed I could use as a napkin, and I nodded a thank you.

"Miss Ripley?" one of the dwarves asked. I looked up and nodded. "Is your supper to your satisfaction?" It was almost cute how concerned he sounded.

"Yeah, thanks…Ori, right?" He positively beamed when he realized I had remembered his name.

"Yes, Miss Ripley! That's right; that's me!" I shook my head.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that I hadn't eaten since some leftover pizza this morning. This is worlds better by the way…" I looked around at the confused faces staring back at me.

"What is pizza, Milady?" Kili asked, tilting his head toward me and leaning in. I froze at his closeness and could feel the heat rising to my face. Hopefully any redness would be attributed to the fire.

"Pizza?" I asked. "It's this food like bread with cheese and veggies – you know, it's not important." Because it wasn't. No words in the universe could adequately describe the glory of pizza. I found myself wondering if banana peppers existed wherever the Hell I was. The idea that they might not was enough to put a damper on my mood all over again.

"By my beard!" I jumped at the sudden exclamation and proceeded to spill my soup all over Kili sitting next to me. I always was a graceful sort of girl…

"Shit! I'm sorry!" I rushed to apologize as I started using the napkin he gave me earlier to wipe off his shirt. The group laughed some more, and in that instant, I could have run out of sheer embarrassment.

"No harm was done, Milady," he assured me as he wiped soup from his face. "Not even hot enough to burn, see?"

"I know, but still...shit…"

"Honest Milady, it's fine," he chuckled. I felt myself go red once more as Kili grabbed for my hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Come now, brother leave the lady alone!" Fili ordered with a chuckle. I quickly pulled my hands away and tucked yet another strand of wayward hair behind one ear. "Bofur, what is it that made you startle Miss Ellie so?"

"She's yet to meet Mr. Gandalf!"

"You idiot!"

"How do you skip over the wizard?

"No, how do you skip over the tallest person about for miles?"

I allowed myself a smile at the utter disbelief and then turned to the wizard being discussed. He was, after all, the one with whom I wanted to speak most of all. Because if anyone could figure out what had happened and how to make it unhappen, it had to be the guy with magic powers, right? Right. God, I hoped he had something more like a TARDIS and less like a Time Turner…


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello all, here's chapter 4 for you :) I would love to see some reviews so I know what people are liking and what I can improve upon, or even what you would like to see! Thanks again for the faves and the follows. Enjoy!**

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I must say, for an honest to God wizard, Gandalf the Grey, was mildly underwhelming. It feels wrong to say, but in Harry Potter, wizards seemed a bit more…put together than the old man before me. I realized Bofur had been holding out his hand to me as I observed the wizard, and I hurried to stand.

"I'll take that for you Miss Ripley, if you're finished of course?" I immediately handed the bowl and spoon over to the still rather excited Ori with a small thank you. Turning around, I jumped when I found Kili had stood and had found a place directly behind me.

"Holy shit balls!" I swore, raising a hand to my chest. Once again, laughter encircled me. I wondered if this was to be the go to reaction every time I swore. I hoped not, considering I had never been known to speak with a strong sense of propriety. My dad had always blamed the "bad influence" of the neighborhood and the children I grew up around. I, on the other hand, blamed shitheaded cockbags who pissed me off…but hey, tom- _a_ -to, tom- _ah_ -to, I guess.

But the look on Kili's face at my words was enough to make me take pause. He didn't look offended or disappointed, or even confused. He wore the biggest smile I had seen recent years and the awe in his eyes made me raise my eyebrows in confusion. Before I could comment, Kili was chuckling with the rest of the group and tucking my arm around his own.

"Come Milady, and we'll get you familiar with Mr. Gandalf," he stated, making me cringe. Along with the amusement at my swearing, I questioned whether or not "Milady" was a term I could get him and his brother to stop using. It was mortifying enough having a few of the dwarves calling Miss Ripley. Could my name sound any more stupid? Having a title thrown my way was more than I could handle.

I figured that could be a discussion for a later time as Kili continued to guide me around the circle toward Gandalf. He must have sensed my own uneasiness creeping back into my hesitant movements, because he tilted his head nearer to mine and shot me a sly grin.

"Not to worry, Milady. Between you and me, he's not exactly the impressively powerful wizard I had imagined…" he whispered with a conspiratorial wink. I released a small snort at his confession and quickly tried to cover her mouth with her hand not being held firmly in place on Kili's arm with his own hand.

"Kili, you stop hoarding the poor lass to yourself and bring her over to Mr. Gandalf," Balin called with soft smile. "He's clearly waiting, lad."

"And you're doin' no one no great service by delayin' the girl with your whispers!" Dwalin shouted earning laughter and cheers from the group."

I flushed all over and shook my head in embarrassment upon seeing Kili's own red face.

"My sincerest apologies, Miss Ellie." The sudden formality in dwarf's words and tone did not escape my notice, but I stayed quiet. It was, after all, what I had wanted…right?

As we reached, Gandalf with no further conversation, the wizard stood from his place on an old stump and offered a small bow. "Miss Ellie, may I present Gandalf the Grey." Unsure of what to do, I gave an awkward curtsey/bow/near faceplant.

"My dear, walk with an old man, will you?"

I turned to look at Kili, but he was already gone and headed back toward his place beside his brother. Facing Gandalf again, I nodded and took his arm as I had done with the dwarves.

We walked in silence for several minutes. Every once in a while I swore I could feel Gandalf's eyes on me, but the moment I checked, he was looking off in a completely different direction. Finally, after trying to think of the best way to approach the situation at hand and then trying to decide if there even was a "best" way, I gave up and decided straight and to the point was easiest, if not the most efficient.

"Sir, something is really wrong here and I –"

"I should say so Miss Ripley," Gandalf interrupted, a sad smile on his lips. "Quite wrong indeed. You, my dear, do not belong here, and I do not mean with the Company…"

"No sir," I sighed. "How did –"

"I am a wizard, dear girl. It is my business to know who and what belongs in Middle-Earth as well as who and what does not. And you, most certainly are the later."

"Okay…" I replied. I was grateful it had been so easy to explain everything to him…well, I was grateful I didn't actually have to explain anything really. Perhaps Kili had been wrong in his assessment of Gandalf's usefulness. "Okay, so you can send me home, right?"

We paused in our walking and I tried not to focus on the disparaging look in Gandalf's eyes. "I mean, you're a wizard. So there has to be something you can do…"

"Miss Ripley, I truly –"

This time I interrupted him. "You can do magic. That's what wizards do," I explained forcefully. I could feel my chest tightening up. "I mean, they can do that in Harry Potter – time travel, I mean. It's kind of the same thing, right?"

Scrunching my face, I tried desperately not to focus in on Gandalf's telling face.

"I am not familiar with a Harry Potter, Miss Ripley, but to travel through time – through space – it just is an impossibility. It is not an ability for even the most powerful of my order. I am truly sorry, but I am not one who can offer you assistance in this matter." And he really did look sorry, but that didn't stop me from wanting to give in to the hysteria growing within me.

"So…I'm stuck here." It wasn't a question. Pinching the bridge of my nose and running both hands through my quickly tangling hair, I stared hopelessly back at the group of dwarves where several were preparing for bed.

"My dear, I may not be able to aid you in this, but there are others much older and much wiser than I who may. And I promise you, we shall not rest until we have searched out every possibility to get you to where you do belong."

Against my better judgement, I allowed a small ray of hope to enter my mind. It was fragile and difficult to maintain, but it was there,

"Now, if I may say, I believe it is time to retire for the night," Gandalf stated as he led me back toward the dying light of the fire and to a few blankets once more between Fili and Kili that had been laid out for me.

"Ahh, Milady," Fili grinned. "We were worried Gandalf had allowed you to run off into the darkness."

"Come rest," Kili offered, patting the blankets next to the brothers. I couldn't help but eye the placement of my "bed" with more than a slight discomfort.

"Come now, lassie," Bofur bellowed from his place next to his brothers. "They won't bite yeh!"

"Unless you ask them to!" Dwalin roared, increasing my unease.

"Um, thank you for these, but I'm just going to go…over there," I mumbled as I gathered up the blankets. Purposefully ignoring the concerned looks on Fili and Kili's faces, I offered another awkward thank you and made my way to a spot of grass several yards away from the group. I settled into the blankets and released a sigh. I knew tears were only a heartbeat away despite how hard I was trying to keep them at bay.

As I continued my staggered breathing, I froze as I heard footsteps approaching.

"Milady?"

It was Kili. I remained silent.

"Mila – Miss Ellie?" I turned to look up at the concern on his face.

"Yes?" I asked softly, tightening one blanket around myself.

"You're going to be cold over here on own. Would you like me to move over here to keep you warm?" I nearly snorted at the offer. His offer seemed entirely innocent, but I could stop my mind from veering to what such a statement meant back home. Not a night went by during the winter that Hatch didn't offer the same thing. He was joking of course…well mostly joking.

Finally I shook my head. "I'd rather I stay here and you all over there," I replied honestly. I felt bad seeing the slightly offended look in Kili's eyes, but I held firm. "Please. I just – I need you all to be over there."

He gave me a hesitant nod and put another blanket on top of me from his own bed place.

"Dream well, Miss Ellie."

I watched him walk back toward the rest of the dwarves and felt a ping of realization. Dreams. That's what this was…a really fucking realistic and immersive dream. I was probably at home sleeping off the fall from the tree. And at the very worst, I was in a coma and recovering from the fall. A coma wasn't great of course, but still, it was heaps better than my previous theory. I allowed myself a small smile.

Traveling through space and time…really? I felt ridiculous for even thinking of the possibility. Well, it didn't matter whatever idiotic ideas I had thought of. After all, I was in a coma back home! I would wake up tomorrow and hopefully Hatch, Aaron, and Charlie would take me home and maybe even wait on me hand and foot.

Well, not so much that last bit. They'll probably whine about my period of unconsciousness and straight up die without me. They were idiots, but they were my idiots.

God, were they going to get a kick out of this story/dream/hallucination…


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Here is Chapter 5, friends :) Thank you again for the faves, follows, and reviews! I would love to see more!**

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I was not a morning person. I had never been a morning person. I would never be a morning person. I had lost track long ago of the number of alarm clocks I had busted by throwing them at my bedroom wall for having the audacity to wake me up. Though I loathe to admit it, I had destroyed two phones in the same manner. Sad as it may be, I generally had to rely on one of my roommates to get me up in the morning. They even had a schedule set for who would wake me up when, because _apparently_ my behavior is akin to a territorial and pissed off male hippo. Thank you very much for that assessment, Aaron.

I remember the event that inspired that description like it were yesterday. Long story short, there had been a decent amount of alcohol the previous night, some random guy in my bed who tried to cuddle the next morning, and a hole through my bedroom window where said man had run from my "crazed morning stupor from Hell." Thank you again, Aaron.

So for some poor son of a bitch with no idea of my morning behaviors to try and wake me up…well, they would be certain never to attempt the act again. I sure wouldn't…

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The first nudge to my side didn't elicit much of a response aside from low grumblings from deep within my throat. The first shake of my shoulders brought out a sad attempt of a punch toward whichever roommate had drawn the short straw that morning. The second nudge had me grabbing whatever limb was doing the nudging, pulling the owner of said limb to the ground, and bringing my feet up to kick them away. The final shake released the verbal abuse that always arrived sooner or later.

"Fuck off!"

I didn't hear anything else for several moments, so I rolled back over and burrowed deeper into my blankets. I could hear whispering and mutters of obvious irritation but I continued to ignore them. I didn't care who it was, but if they didn't get the Hell out of my room fast, I was going to start throwing things.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp poke on my backside and I kicked backward. "Hatch, I swear to God if you came in here again to poke me with your morning wood, I'm going to break it off!" I shouted from my fortress of warmth beneath my blankets.

More silence…another poke. Reaching behind me, I grabbed hold of the offending object jabbing me and snapped it without even looking. The snap was music to my ears. Hatch would be out of commission for weeks – though he may call the cops. What the fuck ever. Stupid shit should stay out of my room.

I heard the whispers continue, but I was determined to sleep for at least another ten hours. After the weird ass dream I had just had, I deserved it.

"What do we do?" one voice asked.

"Shhh! She'll start thrashin' about again," another ordered.

"Did you see what she did?"

"Did you hear what she said?"

I wasn't sure what was with my idiot roommates and their new idiot accents, but I was losing all patience. "Get out of my room; I'm sleeping!"

Silence.

Good. I released a sigh and allowed my body to 1relax back into my blankets.

"Miss Ripley?"

"For fuck's sake, if someone isn't either dead or dying, they're about to me!" With that I flung my bedding as far as possible and struggle to sit up in my bed. Much to my confusion, I wasn't able to swing my legs over the side. I must have fallen out of bed during the night.

"Miss Ripley, it's time to wake up." There was clearly a decent amount of space between myself and whoever was trying to get me up.

With a heavy sigh, I finally opened my eyes and stood up to smack the unlucky roommate of the day. The sight before me made me freeze.

It wasn't Hatch, it wasn't Aaron, and it wasn't Charlie. I glanced around looking for the familiar space of my bedroom. The first and foremost problem was that I was not actually in my room, the second, was that I was staring into the faces of the fourteen men from my dream the previous night. I felt my chest begin to tighten once more and I clenched my fists.

"No."

"Pardon, Miss Ellie?" It was the one who introduced me to everyone. Bofur.

"Nope." I said again a little louder. "Nope nope nope." I turned around so as not to look at any of the group. I put my hands to me head as if I could squeeze what I was seeing out of it.

"Mahal, woman! Pull yourself together!" I knew that was the scary tattooed one. Dwalin.

"It's just a dream," I muttered. "It's just a dream."

"I should say not."

"Hardly."

"Come on now!" I felt a hand grab my shoulder in an effort to turn me, but I flung it away.

"You're a dream!" I screamed again, whirling around. "You can't touch me, because you're not real!"

"She's gone mad," the one I remembered as Dori stated. Dori…Ori? No it was definitely Dori – the uptight little shit.

"Oh shut up," I ordered. "You're mad!"

"Hush now," Bilbo ordered. "She's had a bit of a shock is all and is still reeling from last night, isn't that right Miss Ripley?"

"Yes, come dear child, the sooner we move, the sooner we can potentially get you home, yes?" I glanced over to the wizard and ran my fingers through my tangled hair.

After a few seconds pause, I licked my lips and sighed. "This…isn't a dream."

Kili stepped forward and held out his arm. "'Fraid not, Milady. Come; we'll get you some breakfast."

Noting that pretty much everyone, apart from Bombur who was cooking and Bifur who was watching him cook, was eyeing me with varying degrees of trepidation, I took the offered arm and allowed myself to be led once more to the campfire. Kili sat me down again between himself and his brother, and I glanced his way.

Fili handed me a bowl of what appeared to be the same stew from the previous night and patted my shoulder. "It's alright Milady," he said with a sympathetic grin. "You'll eat, we'll ride, and get that pretty smile of yours bloomin' again. Ain't that right, Kili?"

"Exactly!" he agreed.

"Eat up lassie, we've got a long day ahead of us, and you're sure to need all the strength you can muster for when you meet Thorin later." I started scooping up my food as I wondered about the elusive leader of the group.

After a few moments of watching the others chatting and interact with one another, I took a deep breath. "Umm, guys?" Kili and Fili looked at me, but no one else did.

"Oi! The lady is tryin' to say something!" Fili shouted. I jumped at the sudden loudness and felt myself go red as every one of the dwarves, plus Bilbo, plus Gandalf looked my way.

"Hi, umm…" I stuttered awkwardly. "I just wanted to apologize for yelling at you all. And if I hit anyone, which I think I did, sorry for that too. And for threatening to break your –" I paused as I remembered what I had been threatening, who I had thought to be Hatch, with. "Well, for threatening in general."

The silence that followed my rather pathetic apology made me shift uncomfortably.

"You're right terrifyin', Miss Ripley." I offered Bofur a rueful grin.

"You were just lyin' there and I still thought you were goin' to do some serious damage to poor Fili here," added Balin with a chuckle.

"Who knew that someone who looked so fair sleepin' could be so violent?" I could only roll my eyes at Fili's flirtatious comment.

"Yeah," I groaned. "I'm not a morning person. My roommates hate it too. It's not you guys…I mean apart from not being a dream. I had kind of been banking on that theory."

"Right, well lookin' past that particular disappointment, am I the only one here who's quite ready to be on their way?" Immediately after Dwalin's comment, the entire group began packing up what was left of the campsite. Unsure what was expected of me, I decided to help Bilbo roll up the forgotten bedrolls and try to stay out of everyone's way as much as possible.

As I watched everyone busy with their work, I couldn't help but allow a small sigh to escape my lips. So none of this was a coma dream, and it didn't look like I was getting home soon…freaking wizard. Well, at that point there was really only one thing to do. In the words of the always sensitive Hatch Brentley, it was time to nut up or shut up. Always a charmer that one…

After Bilbo and I finished our jobs we walked over to wear everyone else was gathering around a group of ponies that I don't know how I missed the previous night.

"Come along, Milady, we just happen to have one more pony," Bofur stated joyfully.

"We were using Hob here to carry supplies, but we can split all that up between the other ponies here," explained Balin, patting Hob on his neck. "He'll be good for you, My Dear, so don't fret."

I stared deliberately at the creature before me, not entirely sure I believed the older dwarf. I then turned to watch as the rest of the company were quick to get onto their own mounts, leaving me alone standing before Hob. Suddenly Kili, Fili, and Bofur were all at my side in an effort to help me up.

"No no, I'm fine!" I hurried. There was no way I wanted to be so pathetic as to not be able to get onto a stupid horse – not even a horse, but a pony!

"You look a little unsure, Miss Ripley…" Bofur said as Fili and Kili moved to either side ready to help me.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I'm good!" I laughed, not very convincingly. "You guys go on back to yours, it's all five by five here. No worries." As the three dwarves headed back to their own ponies, I made a rather sad attempt to mount Hob. Falling on my ass wasn't nearly as bad as hearing everyone's laughter around me.

"For fuck's sake…" I muttered. "Come on Hob, help a girl out." The plea went ignored as I tried again and failed again. Throwing my arms in the air I shouted at no one in particular. "Balls!" I barely noticed the laughter around me, for at that moment I felt a heavy hand grasp my shoulder. I turned, fully prepared to really let whoever it was know how unladylike my language could be. But when I looked into the eyes of the dwarf staring at me, I froze.

I knew in that instant that I was finally meeting the mysterious Thorin Oakenshield. I could almost feel myself shrink under his cold scrutiny. Not only was he easily the tallest dwarf in the company, but he was nearly as tall as me. That isn't saying much, I suppose, considering I was only 5'5." For once in my life, I was glad I was rather short for my age. But, despite the inches I had on him, I was intimidated nonetheless.

I waited for him to speak, not knowing what would really be an appropriate greeting. I assumed my earlier intent to tell him to fuck off wasn't it. Finally he sighed, looking me up and down with his cool, grey eyes. "So you are the wayward traveler of whom Gandalf spoke to me during the night." It was more of a statement of fact than an actual question.

"I suppose that's one way of saying it," I replied. Another way, I thought, would be to say I was some woman who magically fell into Hell. "You must be King Thorin," I added, trying not to sound as frustrated as I really was. I heard sounds of amusement around me, and I frowned.

"Thorin will do, girl," he answered curtly.

"Ripley," I stated firmly. He looked at me with narrowed eyes. "I'm not a little girl, so please don't refer to me as such. It's Ripley…or Ellie, I guess.… That is unless you want to be called dwarf, of course." There were no chuckles at this comment. Silence hung thickly in the air as Thorin and I stared each other down.

"Fair enough," he answered finally. I could feel his cold glare as he continued to appraise me. "Now let me help you up on that pony or this will take all morning." He held out his hands to boost me up, but I stepped back.

"I can-"

"Only a fool turns away help when it is needed and freely given," he stated sharply. I blushed knowing he was right and let him lift me onto Hob.

"Keep up or you'll be left behind…no matter what Gandalf has to say," Thorin stated loudly before turning on his heel and heading up to his own pony. I released a sigh. Oh yeah, this was definitely the start of a beautiful relationship. Damn.


End file.
